Kaiser Permanente Vallejo, Vallejo named top hospitals

Vallejo and Vacaville's Kaiser Permanente medical centers are among the 67 top U.S. urban hospitals named this year by an industry quality measurement group, Kaiser officials announced.

It's the second consecutive year for the Vacaville facility to receive the Leapfrog Group recognition, they said.

It's an honor that rewards medical centers for outstanding success in areas like using electronic health records to reduce medication and other errors, performance on high-risk surgical procedures, low infection rate and appropriate physician and nursing staffing.

In all, 92 hospitals around the country were named Top Hospitals, of more than 1,200 surveyed.

"We accept that honor with great pride and responsibility," said Max Villalobos, hospital administrator/CEO for Kaiser Permanente in the Napa Solano Area. "We will continue to provide the best care to all of our patients. Our emergency department and trauma center are open to all and as we continue to grow the trauma services available in our Level III trauma center, like adding neurosurgical capabilities, we are prepared to meet the needs of the community for years to come."

The Leapfrog Group is an independent advocacy group.

and a coalition of public and private purchasers of employee health coverage founded a decade ago to work for improvements in health care safety, quality and affordability, according to the announcement.